Reader Response (Draft 1 - Incomplete)

In the article ‘The Double Edge of Globalization’, Chanda (2007) expresses that globalization brings about both negative and positive effects. Globalization results in global economic growth and advancements in technology and telecommunications, creating a closely interlinked world. However, the current environmental degradation problem is also largely attributed to globalization.

He suggests that unsuccessful efforts in mitigating harmful globalization effects is chiefly due to the world’s top emitter of greenhouse gases, the United States’ refusal to participate in international environmental agreements.

However, I contradict his view, as in my opinion, lax environmental regulations in economically challenged countries are equally responsible. These countries generally do not impose strict environmental regulations, likely due to economic profits they receive from foreign investment and production to promote their own interests of developing the country. For instance, a high percentage of Indonesia’s deforestation is illegal and companies often use environmentally devastating methods such as forest fires to accelerate the clearing of land for sale and agriculture.

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Thesis Statement Draft 2

International efforts in mitigating globalisation's harmful environmental effects have been unsuccessful not because the largest emitter of greenhouse gases, the United States, refused to participate in the Kyoto Protocol, but rather, due to lax regulations in economically challenged countries.

Thesis Statement Draft 1

International efforts have been unsuccessful in mitigating globalisation's harmful environmental effects not because the largest emitter of greenhouse gases, the United States refused to participate in the Kyoto Protocol, but rather, due to lax regulations in countries worldwide.

Summary Final Draft

In the article "The Double Edge of Globalization", Chanda (2007) states that globalization brings about both benefits and adverse effects, and combined international efforts by countries are required to mitigate the negative effects. 

Globalization drives the increase in international trade, encouraging consumption. It also results in global economic growth and advancements in technology and telecommunications, allowing the world to be more closely connected. However, globalization also brings adverse effects to the environment, which includes the acceleration of increased logging, fishing, deforestation and pollution worldwide. 

Chanda suggests that the active involvement and cooperation of all international key players are crucial in reducing the negative environmental impacts. For instance, the Kyoto Protocol has failed to cope with the environmental challenge of globalization due to the participating nations' inconsistent efforts to reduce greenhouse emissions. In addition, the top emitter, the United States has refused to participate, minimising the success of the protocol. 

Summary of The Double Edge of Globalization (Draft 1)

In his article The Double Edge of Globalization, Chanda (2007) states that globalization brings about both benefits and adverse effects, and combined international efforts by governments are required to mitigate the negative effects. 

Globalization drives the increase in international trade, encouraging consumption. It results in global economic growth, advancements in technology and telecommunications, allowing the world to be closely connected. However,  adverse effects to the environment include accelerating the increase in logging, fishing, deforestation and pollution worldwide. 

Chanda suggests that the active involvement and cooperation of all international key players is crucial in reducing the negative environmental impacts. For instance, the Kyoto Protocol has failed to cope with the environmental challenge of globalization largely due to the participating nations' inconsistent efforts to reduce greenhouse emissions. In addition, the top emitter, the United States has refused to participate, minimizing the success of the protocol. 

Paraphrasing Declan Butler’s “Nuclear power’s new dawn,”

My paraphrase:
D. Butler (2004), states that the new efficiency improved reactors would be able to withstand high heat, and equipped with simple safety functions, reduces reliance on complicated backup systems and specialized operators. Its automatic cooling systems lowers the temperature during an accident, requiring little to no human assistance. Experts conclude that future reactors should be more cost-effective and transmit less radioactive waves to pacify a nuclear-averse population.


Original Text:
“These new reactors would all operate at high temperatures, improving their efficiency.  And they would include simplified safety features that do not rely on sophisticated backup systems or experienced operators — all are, in principle, ‘meltdown proof’ and can cool themselves down in the event of an accident with minimal, if any, human intervention. . . . Experts agree that reactors will need to be a lot cheaper to run. And to sway a nuclear-averse public, the next generation of reactors will need to produce much less radioactive waste at terrorist-proof facilities.”

Declan Butler’s “Nuclear power’s new dawn,” taken from Nature, 20 May, 2004 (Vol. 429, p. 238).

My English Language Learning Journey (Draft 2)

Since young, I was not particularly interested in the English language. I would avoid studying English whenever I could, and sometimes even left my English homework and spelling exercises undone. On occasions where I had done my English exercises, it was completed rather halfheartedly. To make learning the language worse, I had little to no interest in reading English novels. Therefore, without doubt, my English standard is far from great. 

It was only after my internship attachment, where I had to write minutes, formal emails and business reports, did I finally realize how important the ability to write and speak English well is. I truly regret not putting in more effort in studying English when I was young. If given a second chance I would definitely place more emphasis on English.

In an effort to improve my writing skills, I bought myself a kindle earlier this year. This gave me the motivation and push I needed to read more and make worth the money spent. During the long holiday break before university, I pushed myself to read as frequently and as widely as possible. 

I believe that in order to write well, a person must first be well read. It is only through reading that one will gain knowledge. While reading, we will subconsciously learn the correct grammar usage, sentence structure and so on. 

Thus, even though I have less free time since university has started, I will still try my best to read as  frequently as possible to continue improving my English.